Ashes of time
by Sara Blake
Summary: Desperately trying to save the world from Voldemort, Hermione is sent back in time.Posing as the Dark Lord's daughter she tries to change the future for better while fighting her own internal battles. Caught in a web of betrayal and love will she succeed?
1. Chapter 0 Prologue

_**Summary: **In a war filled world, hope has almost lost it's meaning. In a desperate attempt to escape Voldemort's reign, Hermione gets sent back in time with the mission of changing the future for better. Posing as the Dark Lord's daughter and with the help of an unexpected ally, would she be able do it? Or would she became lost in the maze formed by politics, betrayals and love? Nothing is what it seems to be, as Hermione will soon discover. Not even the Dark Lord._

_**Disclaimer:** This story was inspired by dullastack's "Prodigal daughter". Thank you for allowing me and Zana20 to use this idea ^-^_

_**Warnings**: Violence, angst, humor, bashing, swearing, Grey/Dark-ish Hermione!, and even a dash of slash_

_**Pairings:** onesided HG/SB, HG/RAB, - more undecided pairings_

"talking"

_'thinking'_

_/mental speach/_

_$parseltongue$_

* * *

Emerald eyes, filled with maturity, knowledge and _pain_ well beyond the young man's age, brightly shone in the dim-lit room as he impassively stared at the glowing runes drawn on the floor in the form of a circle, a circle that pulsated with ancient, _forbidden_ magic.

"Has Percy completed his mission?" the owner of said eyes asked, in no more than a whisper, as he turned from the circle to meet the bottomless dark orbs of his companion.

"Yes, sir," the other responded warily, his swarthy face contorted in the most closely resemblance of compassion his kind could accomplish. The goblins weren't, after all, known for their kindness.

"He managed to infiltrate the Unspeakable's quarters successfully and obtained all the time-turners residing there. But sir, the sand it's barely enough for one person," the goblin bluntly informed knowing that the other, his Leader, will understand what that meant .

A flash of _something_ passed trough those brilliant green eyes, before a look of grim determination took it's place.

"I see," the man simply stated, the emotionless mask back in place. "Make the proper arrangements then and summon the volunteers. Also, tell Severus to prepare the required potions. We must be ready to do the ritual tomorrow, on the Halloween night, when the magic forces are at their peak. It must be done, no matter what. It's our last chance. "

The goblin nodded curtly, his posture speaking only of the respect he held to the one standing in front of him. He knew what it must have cost the young man to take such a decision, the pain it must have brought him. The fact that he put his personal feelings aside spoke greatly of the level of maturity he achieved. They couldn't have chosen a better leader.

Though young, the man was the commander of hundred of armies made of magical creatures and wizards alike. He was the only defense left against the Dark Lord now, all the others having already long fallen in front of their enemies' forces. The ministry, with their fervent denial, was the first to be defeated followed by many others.

But not him, not their leader.

With a fierce courage, similar to that of an warrior goblin, he plunged forward despite the odds being against him. Forced to grow up early, he willingly took on the heavy burden of leadership when he was barely a teen, a mere child at whom the adults blindly looked up for guidance, thinking he had all the answers.

He strove to not disappoint them.

Always trying to lessen the others burdens, when his was the heavier. Always trying to heal and help everyone while himself suffered in silence, never once complaining for the unfairness of it all, for his ruined childhood or messed up destiny, shaping himself into the perfect warrior, teacher, leader.

It figured that when he finally snapped it wouldn't be for his sake but for that of another.

The goblin still remembered the day when his kind approached the young man for an alliance, more than five years ago, after the attack in which half of his people lost their lives at the Dark Lord orders.

He could still feel the surprise he felt then, when the leader easily accepted to take them under his protection despite the fact that they hadn't given any help to the war till then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He soon learned that it was so for the young man.

He recalled the hope and happiness, brought forth by the plan made using the ancient ritual discovered by the goblins, burning brightly in those emerald orbs. Soon followed by outrage when he discovered just _what_ the ritual entailed and the fact that he wouldn't be able to carry the burden of it himself, that it would have to be placed upon another person shoulders, not his own.

He firmly refused to even consider the idea. He couldn't allow such heavy expectation to be place on the shoulders of someone else, to let them suffer the same pain as him. It was unacceptable.

Or was until the situation got worse.

With the Dark forces gaining power, with the innocent victims growing larger in numbers with each passing day, being massacred with no mercy, and with them becoming fewer, they were soon left with no other alternative. Especially since Voldemort started to use nuclear bombs and biological weapons to kill the muggles en-mass. It was fitting, he stated cruelly, for the filth to die by their own makings. Truly, it was an miracle that London was still standing when other places were simply wiped out from the face of the Earth.

It felt as if the apocalypse had arrived.

It reached the point when even if, by some divine miracle, they managed to win over the Dark Lord, it wouldn't matter anymore. There were too many loses already.

That was when _she _decided that enough was enough. She agreed to undertake the ritual, despite their leader's protests which fell on deaf ears. She was just as, or more so, stubborn than even him.

When he realized that she wouldn't change her mind no matter what, for the first time since the beginning of the war, their leader broke. He cried, not for himself but for her and for where the path she carved for herself will lead to.

The goblins couldn't, _wouldn't_, think less of him because of that.

More so when, after that, he evolved further, pushed himself harder and one day announced that, even though he couldn't be the central key of the plan, he could still tag along and help her along the way.

Now, not even that was possible.

Still, looking at the determinant young man standing in front of him, the goblin could easily see why magical creatures which waged war between themselves before, stood now united under his guidance.

"Sir?" the goblin question, with a gruff voice, snapping from his reverie. "Should I inform the miss?"

Pain filled orbs closed themselves briefly before opening to show a new fire burning within their depths.

"No. I would let her know myself."

_**...From the ashes of time...**_

The black clothed figure surveyed the surrounding area, taking in without batting an eyelash the rising smoke of the burning buildings, the muffled cries of the hidden survivors and the metallic smell of blood in the air.

War.

Death.

Destruction.

They were simple words, so easy to utter. Too empty, too hollow to fully show the true meaning behind them. The pain and the suffering caused by them. The misery. The unending anguish.

Such feelings could never be expressed in words, the way they felt couldn't possibly be conveyed so easy . It was just one of those things that held a message so profound, held such a pure state of truth, that, when revealed, it simply lost it's true significance. It's worth and truth could not be found through simple analysis, couldn't be wrapped by simple _words_. What gave it truth and meaning was the _emotion_; the burden of some kind of wordless knowledge that could only come through what was done, felt.

And believe it, she _knew_.

Trying to ignore the world around her, the figure continued to move swiftly trough the ruins of what once was known as Muggle London.

However, she was still aware.

Aware of the fearful stares that watched her from the surprisingly still standing buildings, of the anxious flicker of a curtain every time she passed by . Aware of the fearful, shining madness of the eyes locked on her, an unknown factor, a potential danger to their lives.

She steeled herself though, forced down mercilessly the waves of pity that threatened to arise. She couldn't help, was helpless herself and knew that she will be crushed if she allowed those feelings free reign. The pain of seeing the survivors reduced to fearful cowards, barring their teeth and living like animals, too terrified to move from their own houses, will simply destroy her. And, though she couldn't bear to see their haunted faces, their accusatory expressions, she couldn't allow that to happen. Not when it was still hope. Not when there was the littlest spark of light shining in these dark times.

She owned it to all those who lost their lives fighting to also continue battling in their stead.

Ten years.

Ten long years since the revival of the monster responsible of all this horrifying nightmare has passed, since the world became colored in blood, smelt of fear and was filled with painful moans.

Her eyes become solemn and forlorn, as memories, ghosts of her past and present came to haunt her again and she felt her lips curl lightly into a somewhat cold smile, desperate to fight back the tears that threatened to spill.

Wickedness. Cruelty. Malice ...

The war truly brought out the evil in man. It tore people apart and put them back together differently. It happened to her after all and, after a while, it stopped mattering who she was fighting with, it became a habit and she was able to look at battlefields covered in blood and filled with bodies without feeling anything at all. She simply became numb.

Too often she found herself wondering just how had Harry managed to maintain all of his feelings without going crazy from the pain. How exactly could he shoulder the weight of every death and still go on when he witnessed even more of the war atrocities than her?

She asked him once. He said that someone had to. Typical of the foolish young man she thought of as her best friend. He and Ron were the only reasons she managed to keep her sanity for so long.

And now she had the chance to repay them. The chance to change _everything_.

It was by mistake that she discovered about the goblin's plan, really, seeing that she only heard about it because she happened to pass by when Harry and Severus were discussing it in a heated argument. It was pure luck that Severus, reaching his wits ends trying to convince their stubborn leader about the benefits of going through with the ritual, revealed everything to her in an attempt to gain an ally to side with him. So he to told everything about the plan which was fairly simple, at least in theory, if she was to be honest.

They wanted to send someone in time to change the entire future, using an ancient ritual discovered by the goblins which allowed one to travel up to fifty years in the past. Before the things got bad, before even the bloody prophecy was made.

She had to admit though, that the whole-time traveling thing made her highly skeptical in the beginning. As such, before she agreed with anything, she approached Ragnuk, the goblin's king and the proposer of the plan, for some background information. One could never know too much and she was a firm believer of the idea that knowledge equaled power. It was what one did with said power that mattered though.

She found the old goblin easily enough, in the left wing of their secret base, buried under a pile of paperwork seeing that the goblins were now in charge of managing their resources.

His swarthy face, full of wrinkles, was scrunched up in concentration as he studied one of the documents, and she couldn't help but think that he made quite an odd pictures with his short form dressed in a gold and red suit, with his crunched back and with his monocle gleaming eerily in the light of the candles.

Sensing her presence he lifted his pure black eyes from the parchment and, quite rudely, told her to say what she wanted or take a hike because he was busy. So she did. Everyone knew that goblins were never the ones for patience, after all.

"As you should already know," the goblin started explaining with a sneer, more than a little irritated for having to spell everything out to a foolish with, "the time-turner was created back in the 18th century by a German wizard."

"The time-turners were highly protected then, not used as toys like in these days (honestly, giving them to children so that they could take more classes)" the goblin mumbled under his breath, making her smile somewhat sheepishly back. "The Ministry speculated then, wrongly of course, that one who possessed a Time Turner and use it to travel in the past, could use the information they had about the future to change everything as they pleased. It created quite a panic, I must say, " the goblin continued with an almost smile, reminiscing how the wizards appeared to be headless chickens with the way they were reacting. "There were countless articles in magazines about those new devices, multiple theories and the such, they were talk of the town as some would say and, when the truth came out, many were disappointed. The past couldn't be changed."

"This truth was clearly explained by Novikov with his self-consistency principle. Seeing the look on your face I take it you have heard about him?" the goblin asked at which he received a nod from the young women.

"I can't say I'm surprised considering your personality and heritage, " the goblin continued nonchalantly making her stiffen somewhat, "but it will make things easier to explain."

"Igor Novikov was a Muggle theoretical astrophysicist from Russia, who back in 1980, developed this fascinated theory, that was fully supported by a mathematical model and accepted worldwide as the Novikov self-consistency conjecture. Of course there were other hundreds different theories about time-travel running about even then, but this one was special. This discovery solved not only the problem of paradoxes in time travel , like the grandfather paradox, but also showed that there is only one time line and that multiple alternate timeliness simply do not exist."

"Because of the possibility of influencing the past while time traveling, one way of explaining why history does not change is by saying that whatever has happened was meant to happen from the beginning. A time traveler attempting to alter the past, intentionally or not, would only be fulfilling his role in creating history, not changing it. Simply said one cannot change the past with a time-turner, because the past is already written," the goblin said, leaning back in his chair.

Before the goblin could continue she gave a frustrated sigh.

"So many years have passed since I learned about the possibility of time-travel ad it's still gives me a headache", she stated before fixing the goblin with her eyes.

"Tell me sir, are you familiar with law of conservation of energy,? It is one of empirical law of physics. It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time. A consequence of this law is that energy can neither be created or destroyed: it can only be transformed from one state to another. Also Albert Einstein's theory of relativity showed that energy and mass are the same thing, and that neither one appears without the other. And _**that**_ is why I don't get it!" she finally exclaimed, looking ready to tear her hair out from frustration.

"How it is possible for someone to travel in time when the whole time travel idea violates those basics of conservation law of energy. By sending some mass of energy – the time traveler- back in time it will increase the amount of energy that exists at that point in time, wouldn't it?

To say that she almost had a heart attack when the goblin started to laugh, will be the understatement of the century.

"You can not always apply muggle logic to magic", the goblin said, after chuckling a little more at the girl's freaked out expression. "Logic and magic simply do not work together but to answer your question, no, it would not.

"You see," Ragnuk continued, "the magic consider the Universe not as a closed, but as an open system, because magic flows in and out through it bringing both mass and energy with it, varying the quantities so that a balance could be maintained. As such, the muggle energy conservation law would no longer apply."

"However, no matter how interesting this debate is, we are getting further away from the real point of this discussion. Tell me, have you ever wondered why the time turners are under such heavy security in the Department of Mysteries when they are given even to children to use? Because it isn't the time turner that it's guarded but what it's contained within it- the sand which, though harmless in small amounts could be disastrous if someone who knew how to use it got their hands on a more higher quantity", the goblin said, his voice deadly serious.

"The goblin nation has always been fascinated with time-travel and the ...opportunities... one could have if such thing was possible. While studying the time turners we quickly discovered that what made them 'tick' was nothing more than the sand contained by them. It was unlike anything we ever seen."

"The sand had been under many test but the only things that we could discover was that it was an organic substance unique in the world and it's origins."

"The sand had originally been inside the trunk of one of the oldest pureblood families who became extinct in the last centuries. As there was no heir left to claim it, the trunk and the other belongings of the family were confiscated by the ministry and sold in an auction where it was bought by the inventor of the time turner."

"However, the goblins refused to give up on their research," Ragnuk said proudly, straightening his back slightly, "and we are glad to say that our efforts were repaid in the end."

"As it happens, during our travels in Egypt, while trying to recuperate the gold that was rightly ours and which the ancient Pharaohs stole from our nation, we came across the tomb of a high priest. In there we found the most fascinating parchments which, after translating them, we discovered to our great surprise that they explained in great detail the properties of the sand we studied for so long. We found that the organic matter was called – in a rough translation- ash of time and it was a key element in the Ritual of Thoth."

"Thoth?", the young women inquired. "Wasn't he the Egyptian god of wisdom and astronomy?"

"And also time," the goblin added after a nod. "It seems that Thoth used the ash of time to delete the whole world, which was facing then it's extinction, and start anew. What we plan on doing too, it's also exactly that. We want to give this world a new chance for a future," Ragnuk solemnly stated, his black eyes appearing to look straight into the young woman's soul.

After that he proceeded to go into the ritual technicalities, explaining in great detail what it entailed and leaving her head spinning before she took her leave.

The thing was that the plan was truly the last option, something they should resort to only when there wasn't any other alternative, when they had nothing left to lose. The reason for that was simple - by sending someone so far in the past they had to sacrifice the world as they knew it. With the ritual everything will be deleted and from the moment the time traveller started his or her journey the future will be rewritten, the world as they knew it will not exist anymore.

That was why no wizard, no matter of their allegiance to the Dark or the Light, had never tried to meddle with time and change the future.

The cover story they created was the most important part of the plan though.

The time traveler had to have some kind of protection from the Voldemort of then which will surely not take kindly to one meddling in the affairs of what he considered to be his country. Not to say that the last part of the mission- which consisted in killing the Dark Lord- meant that the assasin had to, somehow, get the Dark Lord to let his guard down around him so that he could be able to the deed. Failure was not an option, not even once.

When, after reading the files that they stolen from the Unspeakeble's which contained extensive information about the past of Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldemort they discovered that he had a child with one of his lovers and that both mother and child have died in childbirth, they came up with the solution.

Using the sample of bloods that the goblins got from both Riddle and his mistress , which was easily explained by the fact that everyone who got an account at Gringotts was forced to donate one when they reached majority so that the vaults could be keyed to only them, they developed a plan in which, by using an adoption ritual, someone will be made, both genetically and magically, into Riddle and his lover's legitimate child.

From then on the time traveler will proceed to take the place of the dead child and worm his way into the political circles of the time, trying to change everything for better. He will be provided all the necessary papers by the goblins in this time so that not even the goblins of the past would be able to detect the forgery.

It was a well thought plan, their last hope in fact.

The thing was that Riddle had a daughter. As such the person who had to go in the past had to be a girl. And there weren't many girls around who could be trusted with such a burden, who could accomplish such a heavy task successfully. In fact there was only one.

She. Hermione Granger.

Well, at least Harry will be accompanying her, she thought trying to cheer herself up. Honestly, she shouldn't have to deal with this. Carrying the future of the world on her shoulders wasn't for her. That was usually Harry's job.

As she snapped out from her musings, sighing deeply before ducking in a shabby looking alley, Hermione made her way to the apparition point, which was hidden behind some trash baskets, that will transport her to the secret base. Wrinkling her nose slightly at the awful smell, she got in place and, in an soundless flash, was gone.

Opening her eyes, which she unconsciously closed while apparating – and god she really detested the feeling of being squeezed through a tube- she found herself in a huge, underground chamber in the middle of which a glowing circle made of runes could be seen.

"Hermione, you're here", a warm but tired voice said and, turning around, she was met the brightest pair of green eyes she had ever seen.

In a flash she threw her arms around the neck of the man's whose eyes belonged to, giving him a tight hug.

"H-hermione...c-cant breathe!", the young man struggled to say as the young women tightened the embrace even more before, reluctantly, letting go.

"Sorry, Harry" Hermione sheepishly said, although she wasn't sorry at all. "It's just that i missed you so much! It's been months since we lost seen each other," she explained with a huff, a hint of worry perceivable in her voice.

Harry's eyes softened slightly at that, the pain in his eyes becoming more intense, guilt swimming inside the emerald depths.

_ What kind of man had he become, willing to let his friend carry such a burden alone?_

Alas, he didn't had a choice. Steeling himself he turned towards his friend who was still muttering under her breath.

"Hermione," he said, and although he tried to contain it, a tinge of pity crept into his voice. "We need to talk."

As chocolate orbs studied the face of the young man's serious expression, Hermione realized with dread that she wouldn't like what she would be told. She wouldn't like it at all.

_**...TBC...**_

_**

* * *

AN/**Hey guys^-^ My second fic! Yay ^0^ I'm really excited to see what you all think about it and I really hope you liked this prologue. My wish is to make the story into something that everybody can enjoy, so please, if you guys have any suggestions, don't hesitate in giving them to me. I appreciate all the help I can get ^-^_

_Till next time,_

_Sara Blake  
_

_**Ja ne.**  
_


	2. Chapter 1 So it begins

_**Summary: **In a war filled world, hope has almost lost it's meaning. In a desperate attempt to escape Voldemort's reign, Hermione gets sent back in time with the mission of changing the future for better. Posing as the Dark Lord's daughter and with the help of an unexpected ally, would she be able do it? Or would she became lost in the maze formed by politics, betrayals and love? Nothing is what it seems to be, as Hermione will soon discover. Not even the Dark Lord._

_**Warnings**: Violence, angst, humor, bashing, swearing, Grey/Dark-ish Hermione!, and even a dash of slash_

_**Pairings:** onesided HG/SB, HG/RAB, - more undecided pairings_

"talking"

_'thinking'_

_/mental speach/_

_$parseltongue$_

* * *

_Unplottable place, 2005_

_** ...**__**להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר**__**...**__**להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר**__**...**__**להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר**__**... (**AN/This is the ritual spell in Hebrew, I thought Hebrew was the most fitting language considering, and, in a rough translation it means something along the lines of "destroy the present and rewrite the past for a better future X 3"-and yes I know that it's not very imaginative ^,^Btw, if any of you know Hebrew please let me know if I wrote it right or if I must change something as I'm not very knowledgeable in this language lol ^-^'...)_

It was warm, the girl thought with a gentle, broken smile playing on her lips as she watched through half-lidded eyes the proceedings.

The glowing runes were the only source of light in the dark-lit chamber and she couldn't suppress a shiver as solemn murmurs filled the air, summoning with their chant the power of magic in their aid, the pressure growing more stronger with each syllable. Dark and light, good and evil, all lost their meaning in front of the most powerful of all powers- time.

** ...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...**

The chanting became louder now and a light breeze could be felt filling the room, becoming more aggressive with each second, surrounding her in a vortex of magic and power, swirling sand shifting restlessly in the air.

_Addicting_, she couldn't help but think as the waves of power caressed her skin, sending tiny spikes of pleasure through her very being.

The seven black-clothed figures that stood in a circle, surrounding the sarcophagus in which she was laid, dressed in the pure-white ceremony robe prepared for her beforehand, were chanting the ancient spell flawlessly, feeding all their magic to it and watching as the power enveloped her in a protective cocoon.

"I gift you with the power of imagination," one of the seven figures said as the others continued to chant monotonously, "may it serve you well" – she could only see a flash of red hair and a shadow of once mischief-filled blue eyes before she was forced to gasp aloud as a red sphere of light that emerged from within the black-clothed figure that spoke, entered then inside her abruptly.

_ ...hothothothothothotHOT!_

She felt as if she was on fire, as if a searing flame burned brightly from inside her and she couldn't help herself from arching her back, a silent scream emerging from her throat before collapsing once again in the sarcophagus with her breath coming out in harsh pants and sweat musing her hair.

** ...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...**

The chanting become louder, the wind grew stronger still and the earth started to shake.

"What I'll give to you is the gift of diplomacy and persuasion, may it be of use in your quest," another figure spoke softly, in a tired voice, remembering her of lessons and full moons and chocolate, of all things, hazel eyes regarding her sadly as the yellow sphere that emerged immersed itself inside her being, making her cry out as her eyes blurred with unshod tears.

** ...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...**

"I give you the gift of planning ahead and the ability of creating brilliant strategies, use it wisely"- flaming red hair, baby-blue eyes filled with a love that could have been, flashes of smiles, adventures and warm, warm feelings, and another sphere, blue this time in color, merging with her.

"My gift to you is the ability to hide in plain sight and the cunning necessary to stay hidden", a smooth, velvet voice declared, black orbs boring inside her soul, memories of stalking, bellowing robes and grudging respect assaulting her as a violet ball of energy joined the others inside her.

And it hurthurthurthurthurt _so badly, _that she only wanted to curl in herself and weep and sleep and not feel like she was about to implode anymore.

** ...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...**

And still, they had to go on, the ritual had to continue even if the pressure was almost unbearable and the wind became so sharp that small cuts started to appear on the bodies of those present in the chamber.

An orange sphere entered inside of her next, "the power of dreaming and maintaining hope" bringing with it memories of elusive creatures, heated debates and strong bonds of friendship, delivered by the speaker with the same serene tone and dreamy look as always.

"I give you my talent in the art of dueling and charms, may it bring out your full potential" the shortest of the figures said in a voice which sounded more like a squeak, though solemn, making her reminisce about Halloween, first ever learned charm, battles with trolls and friendship even as an indigo sphere struggled to get inside her, while her screams reverberated inside the room and tears streamed down her cheeks.

** ...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...**

She couldn't see, couldn't feel, wasn't aware of anything beside the never ending pain that caused her to trash in the sarcophagus, of the excessive energy existing inside her, pulsing continuously, on the brink of implosion and she wanted it outoutoutoutout so that she could _breathe_ again.

"And finally," the last of the figures started to say with a voice both young and old at the same time,so clear, so strong, so imposing, "I gift you with my own power and magic, so that it may serve you in accomplishing your goal", the back clothed figure declared, his verdant eyes filled with guilt and sadness and love towards her, and even half conscious as she was she couldn't help a gasp of surprise escaping at the unwavering declaration, at the last gift she was to receive, so very, very precious and even as she watched in morbid fascination the green sphere approaching her, going through the small tornado of sand that surrounded her sarcophagus.

** ...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...****להרוס את ההווה לשכתב את העבר למען עתיד טוב יותר****...**

The pressure was stronger than ever, the wind blew faster than she ever thought it possible to, leaving deep cuts in the skin of those found in the room and through it all the chanting grew more louder than it ever was, the wounds clearly not disturbing the participants of the ritual. Waves of power washed over them, one more stronger than another, knocking their breath out of them but they continued to chant even as they fell on their knees, even as the sand stole their eyesight and the howling of the wind made it impossible to hear even their own chanting voices. And through it all she suddenly could see and hear everything disturbingly well, see the faces contorted in pain of her companions, see their hope for her success burning in their eyes and hear the determination to finish the ritual so very, very potent in their voices.

As always though, even with the mind-numbing pain she was going through, she couldn't help but marvel at the brilliant and intricately beautiful ritual that used the seven colors of the rainbow as the focus point.

She knew that in the greek mythology the rainbow was considered to be a path made by a messenger Iris between Earth and Heaven and that in Chinese folklore it was a slit in the sky sealed by the snake-like goddess Nuwa, who created mankind. He appeared even in the Norse mythology, the rainbow being the bridge that connected Asgard- the home of Gods and Mudgard – the human world and was being used even in fairytales as symbol, mostly to connect one place to another.

Who would have thought that the root of the rainbow symbolism was even more ancient that those legend and that the rainbow connected not only two different place but different time-lines?

It was fascinating!

She watched with growing apprehension and anxiety as the last of the colored spheres, the green one, slowly approached her, tauntingly so, as the runes started to glow more brighter and brighter and brighter. And then she merged with it. A heart-wrenching cry was heard for a split-of-second and then...

The whole world exploded in an array of colors and feelings and soundless noises.

…_**From the ashes of time...**_

_London,1978_

BANG!

The powerful noise filled the air startling everyone around, as the building of a shop suddenly collapsed, fragments of bricks flying all around. Panicked, the onlookers ducked to the ground to avoid being hit, waiting for a few moments to pass before standing up again.

Was it another bomb planted by the IRA?

It wouldn't be surprising considering the recent years. Damn Irish people, terrorizing England's citizens with their terrorist acts!

As they turned to see what had remained of the building they couldn't help but gape and stare in shock at it seeing that it's ruins started to _glow._

Some of the ones presents though retained their calm and started to call the police, the hospital and even the local television to report the weird phenomenon.

What the heck was happening? Why did the building collapsed and then started to glow? _**How**_ could it glow like that in the first place? It was almost like...magic! But that couldn't be. Magic didn't exist...right?

Surely it was just another bomb attack.

Too busy gaping and freaking out over the unusual occurrence nobody took notice of the cracking noise followed by the appearance of two dark-haired men out of thin air, who were dressed in black robes, of all things, holding sticks tightly clenched in their hands.

"Bloody hell! I can't believe they are making us do something like this. Just because we are rookies they think they can make us do all the lame jobs", the first one loudly complained, or rather whined, to his partner even as said partner took his arm and started to drag him without mercy towards the still brightly glowing building.

"Shut it, Padfoot! We were given a mission and I want you to be serious about it", the partner said, rolling hazel eyes hidden behind a pair of round framed glasses at his companion's antics.

"I'm always Sirius, Prongs", the other retorted, gray eyes sparkling in amusement, "but you had to admit that this is beneath us. Honestly, making us, two of their most brilliant duelers, do something as dull as control damage! What is the world coming to?" the one identified as Padfood dramatically inquired shaking his head in disbelief, before turning to look at the reason they were sent there.

"Green", he said in distaste looking at the building that gave an emerald hue, "it figures", he snorted scrunching up his nose and making Prongs smack him in the arm.

"Stop being so childish, Padfoot! Better go and check to see if there is anyone inside the building while I perform a mass obliviate here. There shouldn't be nobody inside, seeing that the shop was closed, being Sunday and all, but it's better to be safe than sorry. The pulse of magic energy was quite powerful so be careful. Anyways, reinforcements should arrive any minute now to help us get things under control. It's just our luck that we were the closest to the scene of this incident so suck it up and do your job ", Prongs strictly ordered though anybody could see that he was fighting a smile at his friends dramatics.

"You're no fun anymore," the other lamented pitifully. "Since you got together with Lily you started to behave like an ...old lady!" Padfoot exclaimed before ducking to avoid his partner' hex with a wolfish grin on his face as he entered the building.

He stifled a sneeze from escaping him as he skilfully circulated through the bricks and ruins of the place, trying to see his surrounding through all the dust obscuring his vision. He looked around curiously, wand in hand prepared to either defend or attack at any given moment, trying to discover the reason for the powerful magical pulse that caused the explosion and made the auror's department alarms go mad, but he couldn't find anything.

He grimaced.

He half-hoped that it was a Death Eater's attack, finally a chance to show-off his brilliant skills, but it seems that no such luck.

Aaah, life was_ so_ not fair!

Other people got all the fun jobs.

With a pout he started to cast a few security spells and, seeing no reason to worry and no traces of a person in the building ( a lucky thing too, he reckoned, or else the person wouldn't have been alive any longer if it was caught in the explosion), he prepared to leave the place. If it wasn't any imminent danger to fight off, he didn't have any reason to stay any longer. It wasn't his job to investigate strange magical phenomenons , for that they had the unspeakable's department, creepy people that they were and he was sure any moment now one of them will pop out to start investigating.

He suppressed a shiver.

Those people truly freaked him out, not that he will ever admit it. Prongs will never let him live it down if he did.

He was just about to exist the building when a low moan caught his attention. His brows furrowed in a frown as his body fell automatically into a defensive position. There shouldn't have been any person person in the building, according to his magical scan, an the fact that it was it meant that one- it was like him, a wizard and two, it was hiding his presence intentionally.

Carefully, wand raised and a spell ready on the tip of his tongue, he approached the place from where he heard the moan coming from. Then promptly gaped.

There, among debris and dust, sprawled across the stone floor, stood the most beautiful girl he had ever seen wearing nothing but a teared up dark-emerald robe that left barely anything to imagination. Even covered in bruises and scratches, one could only be blind as to not admire the delicate form of her porcelain face framed by long, soft-looking black hair, her plump, rosy lips, open just enough to let pearly-white teeth be seen or the hourglass shaped body continued by long, beautiful legs that will make any man go mad with desire.

Beet-red in the face, he approached the nymph-like girl that didn't seemed older that sixteen, maybe seventeen, and carefully draped his own robe on her body, covering it gently, before lifting her in his arms from the cold floor.

His breath caught in his trout as her eyes' long-eyelashes fluttered open letting the most beautiful pair of green orbs be seen as she looked around in confusion before focusing on his person.

"Mmm, cine esti?*", she said sleepily, in a questioning tone as she peered at him more closely and, though he didn't understand a word from what she said, he couldn't help but enjoy her melodic voice.

"Unde ma aflu?** Ce s-a intamplat***? she continued to inquire as she became more aware of her surroundings, her voice becoming more panicky with each passing second. Not wanting to frighten her even more, he whispered _"Stupefy"_, watching as the red beam of light hit her head and she succumbed to sleep once again, her head resting on his shoulder.

As he watched the sleeping beauty in his arms he came to a startling revelation and a big grin appeared on his face. Watch out world, Padfoot finally found his own Lily.

_**...From the ashes of time... **_

Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, Head Auror for over thirty four years now, was_ not_ having a good day.

He had just exited the meeting with the Unspeakable's head- a stupid stuck-up prick with an ego so big that it could cause a sun eclipse-, meeting concerning the latest incident with the explosion caused by the sudden release of a large quantity of magical power.

He dragged a hand through his disarrayed dark gray, grizzled hair as he stalked through the corridors of the MOM( Ministry of Magic), full with annoying chatter and dunderheads that dwindled uselessly around, his wooden leg making a distinct "clunk" sound on the polished floors while his magical eye moved erratically around, observing everything that came it's way.

He wasn't sure why the incident irritated him so – there weren't any deaths to speak of, after all,-only minor injuries suffered by Muggles unlucky enough to pass by the shop when it exploded – some broken bones at most- and with all the Death Eaters attacks that happened lately he certainly had more pressing matters that needed his expertise to attend to. Sure, the fact the the collapsed building had been the epicenter of the purest wave of magic to pass through Britain in more than a century was oh so very interesting but it wasn't his job to investigate the matter.

And still...

And still, the instinct that saved his life more than once tingled more strongly than ever pushing him to continue investigating. He sighed. He knew that the key to the mystery was the girl found at the scene, girl who was still laying unconscious on a hospital bed in St. Mungo. He couldn't help a snort at that.

Stupid greenhorn.

What had been in Black's head that made him cast a spell upon someone who was in the middle of a magical incident was something he would never understand. He should have known that in such circumstances the magic became volatile and dangerous.

Even more irritated than before, he pushed open the doors of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement loving the way the new trainees scurried out from his way as he irritatedly passed through the open cubicles with a scowl on his face.

Bah, rookies.

At this pace they will never grow to be an asset to the department. Canon fodder, the lot of them.

Sighing he entered his office, a messy little place full with odd, questionable objects, tons of paperwork that lay in disorder on a wooden desk and walls decorated with pictures of known Dark wizards, maps and articles from Daily Prophet, where, unsurprisingly, Potter waited to give the report.

Messy black hair, hazel eyes full with mischief hidden behind a pair of round glasses and a toned body that made the ladies sigh in regret knowing he was already claimed by a fiery red-head, James "Prongs" Potter was his normal self, that is if one didn't took in consideration the very obvious lack of his usual cocky smile, that Moody couldn't help but notice.

Though, seeing that his partner in crime wasn't present with him to give the report, the cause for that wasn't that hard to discover.

"Potter, where's Black?", Moody asked grumpily, not bothering with niceties like greetings and such. Those won't save your life on the battlefield!

"You see, sir," Potter started, nervously shifting his weight on his other leg while cursing his _ex_-best friend to the deepest pits of hell, "he's a St. Mungo, with the girl he rescued from the collapsing building".

Seeing the darkening visage of his superior, Potter mentally strangled his friend. How dare he leave him alone in the lion's den?

"Is that so?", Moody asked rhetorically, his magical eye now fixed on Potter. "Then, after we finish here, you shall inform Mr. Black that he is to come to my office asap for a little...chat", the senior auror flatly stated making Potter glad that he wasn't in his friend's shoes.

"So, what have you found out so far about the girl's identity?" Moody inquired after setting himself comfortably in his chair.

"Not much I'm afraid, sir. We were able to ascertain that she is indeed a witch and that she may be the one that caused the magical explosion, seeing that the healers at St. Mungo stated that she was involved in an incident that depleted most of her magical resources, and that she is now in a critical state due to the magical exhaustion she suffered as a consequence. Not to say that it seems she was in a altercation with muggles it seems. The healers stated that there was a bullet wound in her arm- wound that, though easily healed, raised a lot of question regarding the nature of the inccident she was involved in.

We know that she is from another country judging from the language she spoke to auror Black, though we weren't able to identify what country she is from yet. Also, the team that arrived after me and auror Black at the scene of the incident, they found a silver medallion and ruby ring among the debris of the collapsed building, objects we believe belong to the girl," Potter said handing his superior photos taken of said objects and the girl in question together with a written report of the case.

Moody's eyes scanned the photos and read the report carefully, not letting even one detail escape his notice. Once he was satisfied he let the folder containing them fall on his desk.

"And are you sure you have no other leads towards finding the identity of the girl?", Moody inquired nonchalantly making Potter weep inside his mind. Moody never did nonchalant. He knew that his superior found a clue towards the girls' identity and that he was giving him a new chance to correct his errors and prove his worth. Sadly, he didn't had any idea about what kind clue he discovered so he was forced to give the only answer available to him.

"Yes sir, I'm sure. I'm afraid we have to wait until she wakes up," Potter said with as much dignity as he could muster at the moment.

"Idiots, I'm surrounded by idiots,"Moody murmured darkly. "What do they teach recruits at the Academy nowdays? How to use Mascara? And I thought you, Potter, were part of the brighter ones," the senior auror berated making Potter flinch.

"Look here," Moody demanded spreading the photos Potter brought on the desk. "Firstly, this photo, the one with the ring, what does it tell you?"

"Um, that she liked jewelery..."

"No! Use your brain, for Merlin's sake, that is if you have one. Observe the intricate design, fool, this was custom made, and look, does this look like normal silver to you?" Moody asked shoving the picture into Potter's face

"Goblin made," Potter murmured in a mere whisper realization dawning on him.

"Finally, there is hope for you still. And what does this tell us, lad?", Moody asked, oddly proud to see that not all hope was lost for young Potter.

"Goblin custom made objects cost a fortune," Potter now confidently replied, "as such we are dealing with someone rich enough to afford one".

"Exactly. Now look at this one," Moody demanded next taking the picture featuring the girl. "See, right here?" he asked pointing to a certain spot on the girl's robe with his finger. "It isn't clear enough in the picture but it looks to me like it could be"

"An emblem, an emblem of a pureblood family!" Potter exclaimed cursing his own stupidity for not seeing that earlier.

"And that means the girls is the scion of rich pureblood family of wizard from afar. Also,we can now discover from which pureblood family she is a part of once we manage to obtain the exact design of the emblem. It will take some time but finding her identity isn't such an impossible task anymore."

"Not only that Potter but this medallion," Moody said once again shoving a picture into the young's auror face, "isn't any ordinary medallion. Well, I'm not surprised you don't know," Moody continued seeing the confused look in Potter's eyes, "it's quite rare for such a medallion to be given as it symbolizes the apprenticeship of one under a Potion Master, and we all know haw hard it is for one to become a Potion Apprentice, not to talk about Master. In fact I believe that there is only one apprentice under a Potion Master in the entire England at the moment now that I think about it, that lad Severus something that was your year mate at Hogwarts," Moody said ignoring the grimace that appeared on Potter face at the reminder of his year mate.

"Well, what are you still waiting here for? Get to work, don't waste time! You have to find the identity of a rich, pureblood witch apprenticed to a Potion Master in England- and seeing that there are only five Potion Masters in the entire country I don't think it is such a hard task " Moody snapped, and hurriedly Potter prepared to leave not wanting to risk becoming a target to Moody's sadistic streak.

He shivered at the very thought of that happening.

But still, he had to hand it to the man, he really knew his stuff to discover so many things, to connect such elusive dots in such a short amount a time and in such a matter of fact manner that it made him feel more stupid than ever for not seeing what, in his superior eyes, was really pretty obvious. He reckoned that that was the difference between him, a rookie still, and his senior auror, one of the best hit-wizards of the department.

"And don't forget to send for Black," said senior auror added obvious to his subordinate musings, just before Potter exited the office, the young auror responding with an hurried "Understood, sir" before opening the door and making his sweet escape.

Honestly, Moody thought opening the folder of another case that demanded his attention, youngsters these days.

_**...From the ashes of time... **_

"Auror Black! Auror Black!", an out of breath mediwitch called making Sirius interrupt his intense studying of the perfection that was his mystery girl, girl that was now sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed...

Ok, so maybe not sleeping, more like laying unconscious in some sort of deep coma but really now, how in Morgana's name was he to know that a simple stunning spell will cause such a mess? He wasn't Moony, to know all the possible outcome of every situation!

With great reluctance he turned from the girl only to give a brilliant grin to the mediwitch, trying to hide the irritation he felt for being interrupted.

"With what can I help you, my fair lady", he asked in a flirty tone, his grin growing even bigger as he spotted the tell-tale blush appearing on the young woman's face, proof that his charm was still working.

"There is an floo-call waiting for you, sir", the mediwitch said after taking a deep breath to calm herself. "It seems that it is about a rather urgent matter concerning your auror duties. Hurry up", the young women informed, turning around and expecting to be followed by the young, and rather attractive, auror with eyes alike the molten silver.

Without any choice but follow, the auror stood up from his seat beside the bed of his sleeping beauty and took after the agitated healer, cursing his own luck and knowing that both Moody and James will have his head for leaving work without notice or viable reason. He was is in for it this time.

Only after a few second passed since the mediwitch and the auror left the room, did the supposed unconscious occupant of the bed stir up, snapping open brilliant, and oh so foreign to her, green eyes.

"Merlin, I thought he'll never leave", the girl muttered lifting herself up in an upright position and studying her surroundings, a simple room with white walls, several empty beds and little desks upon which rested vases filled jasmine flowers that were spreading out a calming miasma in the air.

It was quite peaceful, really, to simply stay and let the rays of sun, that entered through the windows opened by the nurses and basked the room with light, warm her skin while enjoying the light breeze without the constant fear that she'll have to fight for her life in a moment notice.

She couldn't help the slight widening of her eyes as, while letting her eyes roam, she suddenly found herself faced with her reflection shown in one of the open windows, reflection that made her marvel at just how different she looked after the adoption ritual. She still couldn't believe that the girl reflected in the glass was truly her. Honestly, the wonders of magic will never cease to amaze her.

So...

She done it. She traveled into the past.

Strange.

She expected to feel more strongly about it but she only felt...numb. She reckoned that she was still in shock. I mean it's not everyday that you happen to lose everything you hold important to you and find yourself in the past, alone,with the weight of the future on you shoulders.

She released a sigh

. And the things only started to get complicated. She still had to find a way to get accepted into the past. Accepted as Alina Tudor, the bastard daughter of Tom Riddle, heir of Slytherin, and Maria Tudor, the last scion of the Ancient and Noble House of Tudor from Romania.

It was going to be a hard task.

Luckily, the goblin's and the Unspeakeble's helped a lot in finding the perfect identity for her to usurp, as they provided all the necessary papers and information needed.

If she was going to claim that she was the daughter of Tom and Maria and that the little tid-bit of her dieing along her mother during childbirth was a lie, she still needed sixteen years of personal history.

As it happens – and she somehow thought that it was only thanks to the fact that Harry was in charge of investigating the matter that it happened- they found the perfect cover for her in a young Romanian witch named Alina Tudose, an orphaned girl that, after obtaining her apprenticeship to a potion master in England, disappeared without a trace while on her way to England to never be found again.

Yep, Potter's personal brand of devil luck struck again and the perfect cover was found-perfect age, perfect gen and perfect country. If she claimed that she was Alina Tudose it wouldn't be that hard to create a story through which the poor orphaned girl just happened to prove out to be, in fact, Alina Tudor that, through some cruel twist of fate, somehow landed in an orphanage after being thought dead alongside her mother.

The only obstacle in usurping Alina's identity would have been the fact that the real Alina looked nothing like her, like the daughter of Tom Riddle and Maria Tudor would have looked like but even that wasn't a problem anymore.

It seemed that, because there weren't any magical schools in Romania the only place in which Alina would have been able to learn magic would have been at Durmstrang.

However, due to the fact that she was thought of as a muggleborn orphan she was denied entrance in the institute seeing that they only accepted Purebloods into their folds. As it was, Alina was lucky enough to be discovered by an old Romanian Potion Mistress who took a liking to her (and her use of wandless magic against some kids that decided to bully her) and took her in, adopting Alina at the age of twelve.

The Potion Mistress' house was located in a secluded area , in the Carpathian Mountains, due to the fact that, being a halfblood herself, the Mistress wasn't well received in the community of wizards and witches from the area and, as she didn't desired to mingle with muggles, preferred to live on her own. As it was, for the next four years that followed her adoption, Alina studied magic under the Mistress guidance, living isolated from the rest of the world and advancing at an alarming rate in her studies.

Nonetheless, their peaceful living came to a halt when the Mistress passed away just as Alina reached her sixteen celebration. As stated in the Potion Mistress' will, after her death Alina was to go in England to finish her apprenticeship under on old friend of the Mistress and build herself a new live from then on but everybody knows how that ended up.

As it was, Alina was an unknown identity, one that provided the perfect cover up for her to use and integrate into the magical society of 1978.

Now she only had to play her cards right and pull it off. Playing the amnesiac should also help her cause as she was gonna fallow Severus' advice and let the others fill the gaps for her. As he always said, why bother making up lies and stories when others are so willing to do it for you?

And that was the easy part of the mission. What came after getting accepted as Alina was gonna be more complicated.

Remodeling the future...

She hoped she was strong enough to do it. To face that murderer and call him "father"...She could feel herself get sick. Even staying in the same room as him seemed too much to ask from her at the moment.

Hearing voices outside her door, she promptly plopped down the bed and closed her eyes, feigning sleep. Yes, she knew what she had to do but she wasn't ready yet to face the world. She just wanted a little more time to prepare because once she started there was no going back. And she only had herself to count on.

As she let herself drift off to sleep, she could still hear the last piece of advice Severus parted to her playing inside her head, making her brow frown worriedly even in her sleep, while she recalled his worried but determined black orbs staring at her, his lips curled up slightly in a cynical manner while he delivered his advice in his unmistakable silky voice.

_"Remember, everything you ever knew, everything you ever felt becomes irrelevant once you begin this journey. You are going to be alone and only with yourself to count on. No one is going to advise you, but no one is going to judge you either. So steel your heart, become an architect and build the best world according to your own desires. But remember, you can't achieve anything without sacrifice so be prepared to use anything and anyone to reach your goal. You must think of everything and everyone as bricks that you, as an architect, will have to use in building your best possible future. And only the best ones should be used – the rest are disposable."_

_**...TBC...**_

_*Who are you?_

_**Where am I?_

_***What happened?_

_(the original dialogue is in Romanian )  
_

* * *

AN/ Hey guys ^-^ Finally, I managed to find the time to work on my stories so please don't kill me for the long waiting time I put you through as it wasn't by choice. Saddly,I'm in my last year of high-school and studying is taking all my time and, as I don't want to update unworthy of your time chapters written in a rush, you have to bear with me and my slow updates for a little longer till I finish it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter - and Black Phoenix fans don't worry, I'll update the next chapter of that story soon enough either on Monday or on Tuesday- and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it. I am most grateful for all the reviews and messages I get, the support I received so far being simply mind-blowing for little old-me^_^

As always, this chapter was written with the help of the brilliant Zana to which I give my thanks for all the help she had given me ( which believe me it's a LOT) and for not giving up on this lazy writer^-^

Now, the reason I chose Hebrew as the ritual language is because it is one of the most ancient languages known, dating back to the 10th century BCE that has developed an modern version which is spoken today. Hebrew was extinct as a spoken language by Late Antiquity, but it survived as a literary language and as the liturgical language of Judaism, evolving various dialects of literary Medieval Hebrew until its revival as a spoken language in the late 19th century.(and yes, I did indeed stole this from Wikipedia ^,^) Cosidering all that i decided on it's use mostly due to the fact that it still exists in one form or another in the present, and latin is much too overused for my taste so I wanted to try something new ^,^

Also, I'm aware of the fact that many readers associate the name "Tudor" with the British Monarchy however "Tudor" is also a very common name in Romania. We have** Tudor Arghezi**, one of the most important writers in twentieth-century Romanian literature , **Tudor Vladimirescu** , a revolutionary hero, and even **Vadim Tudor**, a romanian political figure that is it still alive today, to name some the more famous "Tudor's" from Romania. As it is, I just wanted to clarify the fact that there will be no connection between my character and the British Monarchy, Alina Tudor being a purely romanian name that I happen to like how it sounds ^,^

Well, till next time ^.^

Happy Easter!

Sara Blake ^.^


	3. Chapter 2 Of TimeTurners and subterfuge

_**Summary: **In a war filled world, hope has almost lost it's meaning. In a desperate attempt to escape Voldemort's reign, Hermione gets sent back in time with the mission of changing the future for better. Posing as the Dark Lord's daughter and with the help of an unexpected ally, would she be able do it? Or would she became lost in the maze formed by politics, betrayals and love? Nothing is what it seems to be, as Hermione will soon discover. Not even the Dark Lord._

_**Warnings**: Violence, angst, humor, bashing, swearing, Grey/Dark-ish Hermione!, and even a dash of slash_

_**Pairings:** onesided HG/SB, HG/RAB, - more undecided pairings_

"talking"

_'thinking'_

_/mental speach/_

_$parseltongue$_

* * *

A gasp escaped the mediwitch when she entered the room. There, looking as a trapped animal as it scanned the room with big, frightened eyes and a face that was the epitome of panic and distress stood her previously unconscious patient that seemed to have just awoken from her comatose state.

Thank Merlin!

Several days passed since the girl was brought in and, frankly, it was a relief that she finally woke up. The healers had been at loss trying to find the reason for her prolonged comatose state but with no luck as the magical scan showed nothing wrong with the girl. There was simply nothing they could do to cure her since, physically, there was nothing to be cured of. She was as healthy as humanly possible and there was no reason she shouldn't wake up. That's why the mediwitch was so glad the girl woke on her own.

Such a young and beautiful girl shouldn't waste away as a vegetable.

Seeing the girl's mouth open uselessly as she tried to speak but only managing to utter something akin with a broken sob, the mediwitch snapped out of her daze and hurried up to help her, conjuring a glass with water on the way, glass which she offered to the shaken girl gently.

She silently thanked the Gods when the girl accepted the glass without a fuss, only giving her a distrustful look as she greedily drunk its content, some of which spilled on the sheets in the girl's rush to down the refreshing water. After drinking the water the girl turned her attention on the mediwitch and narrowed brilliant green eyes at her.

"Unde ma aflu? Cine sunteti ?... Unde e bacheta mea?"* the girl frantically asked, in a dry, raspy voice, using words that the mediwitch didn't understand. Poor girl, the mediwitch thought looking at her beautiful but panic-stricken face, a foreigner stranded in a foreign country. No wonder she was afraid - waking up in an unknown place after being through a dangerous incident that left all but drained of her magic. Anyone would be. Poor child.

"There, there, everything will be alright sweetie," the mediwitch said taking the frightened girl, no, young women in her arms like she will do to her own children to calm them down, ignoring the feeble struggles of the frightened girl. Damn, she was such a softie, letting her mother instincts make her act so unprofessional.

But, no matter what anyone said, she knew the girl didn't needed a healer or a mediwizard,-witch, whatever at the moment. No, what she needed was a mother embrace to make her feel warm and safe enough to calm down. And though she might be a poor replacement, she thought as she gently shushed the girl, it was better than nothing for sure.

"Where am I?", the girl softly asked after she calmed down and was released from the embrace of the mediwitch, a pink hue coloring her cheeks.

"Oh, so you _do_ speak English? Thank Merlin, I didn't even know _what_ language you spoke before, forget about finding a translator," the mediwitch said with a grin which she was glad to notice made the girl a little less tense. Good.

"Relax, sweetie, you aren't in any danger" the mediwitch coaxed gently. " You are at _St_. _Mungo's_ Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries and you have been brought here four days ago. My name is Molly Weasley and I work here as a mediwitch," the red-head women informed kindly. "What is your name, sweetie?

"My name is...erm...I am...ah..." the girl trailed off, face scrunched up in thought as realization slowly dawned on her. Raising her head she looked into the red haired woman's eyes with green orbs full of terror as she whispered in an scared, if alarmed voice.

"I don't know who I am".

…_**From the ashes of time...**_

James Potter wanted to bash his head on the first flat surface his eyes happen to land on , at the moment. And really who could blame him for that? Everyone will also have the same wish if it was _theirs _partner that started to flirt with the one they were supposed to _interrogate!_ Interrogate after a wait of almost a week_, _ to not add, until the mediwizards deemed the girl to be well enough to take part in _such_ a strenuous task.

He felt a headache building up already. Moody was _so_ gonna kill them.

"And have I told you that you have the most precious jewels for eyes? Cause you do," Sirius' voice could be heard chatting animatedly earning a little blush from the admittedly very beautiful girl. Not that she could hold a candle to Lily or anything, but still.

James watched how Sirius practically beamed seeing the blush, a face splitting grin taking over his features, and barely held in a groan. Great, his friend was in full 'puppy' mode right now. The swishing tail was almost visible as the supposed auror tried his best to earn shy smiles, light chuckles and small blushes from the one he was currently crushing on. The one they were supposed to _investigate_. And has he mentioned the interrogation wasn't going anywhere?

Oh, yeah. Moody definitively would give _them - _not only Sirius, of course not, they were a_ team _after all_ (HA!), - _ a piece of his mind.

Refraining from sighing aloud in resignation at the earful they will receive upon returning to the Ministry, James gave a light cough before cutting in the two lovebirds conversation. Enough was enough already.

"I'm sorry cut short this enlightening conversation you are having, _auror Black_, but we are here on a mission," he said drily ignoring the kicked puppy look his friend was sending him as he blanked his face before turning toward the girl that was watching him with bright, green eyes so eerily similar with his wife's own.

"Now Miss, we are sorry to disturb you while recuperating but the Ministry has some matter that need to be cleared out with your help, matters regarding the incident your were in. So, firstly, could I have your name, please?", he politely asked ignoring his pouting friend as he waited for the girl's answer.

He was going to be lied to.

James realized that with a start before the girl had even said a word. It was a strangely enchanting sight to see how easily the girl lowered her lashes just a bit as if remembering something she's rather not remember, how her shoulders hunched slightly, how she adjusted her posture almost imperceptibly so that it practically emanated regret, as the smile she wore till then disappeared ever so slowly. It was truly a believable act, he knew he would had fallen for it if it wasn't for one thing.

Her eyes.

There was no mistaking that mischievous glint that flashed through them – he witnessed it every day in another pair of equally enchanting orbs, after all.

"So you haven't heard yet?", the girl softly inquired, as she seemed to stare blankly ahead of her making James feel the need to applaud her performance.

"Heard what?" inquired Sirius on the side, surprised by the change that came over the girl at the simple question.

"That I have amnesia", the girl continued as she raised then her eyes and looked directly into James hazel orbs. Merlin, she was good, the auror had to give her that. Gone was the mischievous glint from her eyes, only sadness, resignation and fear of unknown remaining in those brilliant green orbs. But, too bad for her, he wasn't about to fall for her act now.

"Amnesia, hmm? So you don't remember anything? " he inquired with just the perfect amount of sarcasm in his voice and a slight dry tone to convey to her that he wasn't buying it. If she received his not so subtle message he didn't knew since she showed no outward reaction to his words and tone. A true actress indeed.

"Not exactly," she answered, voice just as empty as before. " I remember things in general, like how to read, how to cast a spell and other similar things. But I don't remember how I acquired the knowledge about them, I don't remember anything about myself, about my past. But, " and here a hopeful tone entered her voice as a small, barely there, smile curved her lips, " the healers said that it is only temporary and that I should recover my memory soon enough. It seems that whatever caused me to land in the hospital was traumatic enough that my mind chose to forget about it rather than simply deal with it."

James watched her for a few seconds.

"I think you are lying," he bluntly said, never one to beat around the bush. "And I suggest you tell me what really happened. Right now," he said letting his eyes pierce the girl's own, trying to let her know that this was no child play. People could have died in that explosion and, though he didn't felt that the girl had any evil intentions, by hiding what happened she became more suspicious with each passing moment. And, considering that they were in full war with Voldemort's forces, any suspicious person was to be taken into custody.

The girl didn't budge.

"Hey, mate, relax would ya? It isn't her fault that she has amnesia and can't tell us what happened. She's also a victim here so take it easy on her , okay", Sirius said and, despite the playful tone he adopted, James could see he was, no pun intended, serious in his words if the glare sent his way was any indication.

As he took in the glaring eyes of his friend that belittled the grin he sprouted, James reconsidered his previous statement. He no longer wanted to bash his head on the first flat surface he his eyes happened to land on. No, now he wanted to bash Sirius's head on it. It would be _much_ more satisfying _and_ less painless for him if he did it that way because really, if the man didn't want to do his job properly then he should at least let him do it for both of them.

Letting personal feeling interfere with the on-going investigation wasn't the way to go and Moody would not be pleased. And he, for one, didn't want to have his head chewed off by the gruff auror._ Again._

_ "_So how would it be, Miss? Are you ready to tell the truth?", James continued pointedly ignoring his best fried and partner. He _knew_ the girl lied. And it was his job to find out the whys.

Once again James found himself impressed with the girl's acting talent. That offended expression, the pursed lips, the narrowing of her eyes – it was like watching a master or, in this case, mistress at work. Idly, he wondered if she took acting classes.

_ "_I am sorry to betray whatever expectation you have from me, auror Potter, but I did tell you the truth. The fact that you don't seem to believe me offends me, I have to say, especially since you can ask the healers and the mediwizards to confirm my statement, " the girl said, voice filled with barely contained indignation at being called a liar. " It's not like I could fool _them_, no matter how highly you seem to think of myself – something I don't know if I should take for a compliment or not. Not to mention that two talented aurors like yourself and auror Black should be able to find out the truth even without my statement which, despite what you may believe, I truly regret it could not be more helpful."

"Damn right we could," Sirius said with a grin that didn't quite reached his eyes as he tried to dissipate the tension in the room. "Have no worry as James and I will make sure to bring light to this incident", he continued glancing from the corner of his eye at his partner, brother in all but blood, that was throwing him a disapproving look. He didn't know what got into James to make him act like such an asshole but he wasn't going to let a fight break out between his bestest friend ever and his future girlfriend so easily. They _had_ to get along.

For his sake!

_ "_Also," the girl continued as if she didn't heard him at all, which caused him to sulk for a while in his mind, "if you want you can question me under Veritaserum if that is what it will take for you to believe my words", she said as Sirius looked at her surprised, forgetting about any thoughts of sulking.

Even James looked taken aback since questioning under Veritaserum was something that, usually, everyone wanted to avoid and not only because the one under its influence was forced to answer truthfully to _any_ question asked.

The Veritaserum was a recent invented potion of the renewed Potion Mistress Petrova and, because of that, many were wary of being subjected to it since it wasn't well known what side effects it could have, if it had any that is. The thing is people weren't fond of being treated as guinea pigs and that, combined with the breach of privacy that it entailed, made the use of Veritaserum be a last resort of sorts.

James couldn't help but wonder if he was overly suspicious of the girl, maybe she really was genuine. After all nobody could lie under the influence of Veritaserum, that was a known fact. But still...

His instincts were all but screaming at him that he was right in his suspicions of her.

"Maybe I'll take you up on your offer," he said with narrowed eyes watching the girls face attentively for any signs of panic or alarm to prove that her previous statement was a bluff. There weren't any.

"James!" Sirius all but screamed at his friend. "You can not be serious about this! She hasn't even been released from the hospital yet, what has gotten into you?"

James had enough. Sirius was really destroying his chances at getting the girl to tell the truth, butting in at the worst times and he wasn't about about to stand for it any longer. He was going to let Sirius know just how much of an annoyance he was being.

"What, in Merlin's name, is with all this ruckus? You all do know you are in a hospital right?" asked a dry, if somewhat muffled voice from the doorway, interrupting James rant before it even started and he silently cursed.

Really, it just wasn't his day.

…_**From the ashes of time... **_

Unspeakable Rookwood was feeling annoyed as he stalked through the halls of St. Mungo in search of room 313.

At the age of twenty five he had to admit that he had done well for himself so far. Finishing Hogwarts with fourteen NEWTS, a record even for a Ravenclaw as he was, quickly assured him a place in the Unspeakable's ranks who didn't waste any time in recruiting him. Of course, officially he was working _Muggle Liaison Office_ as only a few chosen ones were to know about his real identity as an Unspeakable, like the Minister and the head of the auror department for example, his job consisting in being as inconspicuous as possible so that he could gather information and blend in the crowd more easily.

That was why he was currently at St. Mungo after being asked by the Unspeakable Department's Head to investigate the girl involved in the incident concerning the powerful magic pulse that was felt by all magical beings from all over the country.

It was truly a fascinating phenomenon, he had to admit to that, and it was pretty interesting to find out what could cause such a pulse to occur in the first place but that didn't made his mission any less boring. If it wasn't for the fact that his _true_ master was also interested in finding out what caused such an incident to occur changes were that he would have refused the mission. He was pretty high up in the Unspeakable ranks to afford that, after all.

The reason he was the one chosen to investigate is simple enough to understand – his mother worked as a healer here at St. Mungo and, as such, he could acquire the wanted information more easily than any other of his fellow peers. Hell, if he thought about it, his mother didn't just worked here. It was more like she _lived_ here as, since his father - her husband - was killed by a mudblood healer that administrated him the wrong potion, her only reason for living was to not let another go through as much pain as her due to some stupid mistake made by an incompetent healer.

She was the strictest healer to ever pass the halls of St. Mungo and Rookwood wasn't surprised at all when she was offered the position of Head of the Spell Damage Ward. He knew his mother was the best healer St. Mungo got in its service at the moment and it was only logical to be recognized as such. She damn well deserved her position for all her efforts and for the fact the the one responsible for her suffering, that stupid muggleborn that killed his father, got away with only having to repeat three months of training and as such she was still forced to work along-side that lowlife.

Stupid mudblood.

But soon. He only had to wait a little more until his lord cleansed the world of such filth.

Shacking his head to get rid an any stray thoughts, Rookwood turned left and contained a sigh of relief as he finally saw the door with the number he was looking for. The room 313 in which resided the mysterious girl was just few steps away from him.

Unlike the aurors, who he knew were still fumbling trying to discover the girl's identity they, the Unspeakables, weren't as much in the dark as them. After tracking down the girl magic signature across Europe, using methods aurors probably never thought of using since they weren't exactly legal, and through the sheer efforts made by more than seventeen of their most brainy individuals who investigated the clues left behind in the incident, their Forensics team was led to an inn of sorts - a so-called 'han' from Romania.

After investigating the place and interrogating the people found there they came to believe that the girl could be Alina Tudose, a sixteen year old witch adopted by the registered werewolf and Potion Mistress Ileana. It seems Ileana died not too long ago, the dates they got were confusing and often contradicted themselves but they were able to conclude that no more than few months have passed since the witch's death, which left Alina to be apprenticed to the world's renowned Potion Mistress Petrova that was currently residing in England.

At that Rookwood gritted his teeth slightly.

The girl had to be something else in potions or her recently deceased guardian was someone really, _really_ close to Petrova, because Rookwood knew the ill-mannered Potion Mistress didn't accept just anyone in her service. He knew that because he tried to get apprenticed under her before accepting the Unspeakable's offer. He still couldn't help a shudder at the memory.

That women, despite her age or maybe because of it, had the sharpest tongue he ever encountered and was able to shred one's dignity and pride to tiny bits with little to no effort. He hoped he will never came face to face with her, at least for a long, long time from now.

The girl, if she truly was Alina, will have a rough future ahead of her, that was for sure.

Going on though, the investigation didn't reveal much else beside that. From the little information they had they had come to think that the girl was on her way to England when she was attacked by muggles for reasons yet unknown. Considering that her wand and other belongings were found in the room she resided in at the inn they concluded the girl was wandless, and thus defenseless at the time of the attack and, in her panic, tried to apparate.

As her journey destination was England probably that was the first place to come to her mind in her attempt to apparate, the success of her apparition being the reason for the magic pulse that washed the country. Of course all this was speculation based on circumstantial evidence.

Firstly, the girl had to be pretty much desperate beyond belief to attempt an International Apparition since such attempts usually ended in the death. Secondly, even if the girl attempted to do such a crazy thing the chances of success were infinitesimal small and though the depleted magic resources of the girl's core spoke in her favor, the magical power needed in the first place for such a thing was something akin to the one possessed by his lord...no, maybe even his wasn't enough to do such a thing. Clearly the power needed wasn't something a young girl, not even out of her teens, might posses.

As it was, the only one holding the right answers was the girl herself.

Too bad she had amnesia.

Or at least that's what his mother informed him of at the end of her report containing the injuries of the girl. Well, that surely complicated his work since questioning the girl in this situation would be pretty much useless. But, since he didn't wanted to have come to St. Mungo for nothing he figured the least he could do was make a test to reveal the girl's true identity and heritage. Sure, such things usually cost a small fortune but he figured that in this circumstance his superiors will agree to it since it will make things much easier for their on-going investigation.

And that is why he was now standing in front of the open door of room 313 only to discover he wasn't the first to be here. Those two auror rookies that discovered the girl, Black and Potter, were already there and, judging by auror's Black's shouts', having a disagreement at the moment. Really, how unprofessional.

"What, in Merlin's name, is with all this ruckus? You all do know you are in a hospital right?" Rookwood asked a dry, if somewhat muffled voice from the doorway, muffled because of the mask that was part of his Unspeakable uniform he was currently wearing which partly covered his face.

He took great pleasure in seeing both auror's Black grimace of distaste at his appearance once he realized his profession _and_ auror's Potter frustrated glare directed at him, his scowl signaling this was the last of many unlucky events for the rookie auror in this morning.

He smiled.

Yeah, he was petty but he couldn't help but enjoy the misfortune of others specially when the 'others' in question were aurors. Everybody was aware of the mutual dislike between the Unspeakables and aurors after all. It was no secret.

"Unspeakable," auror Potter greeted him in a neutral tone. "May I have the reason for your presence here?"

Rookwood mulled over the advantages and disadvantages of answering the auror's question and in the end thought that it was not worth the bother trying to hide the reason for his visiting of the girl.

"Not that I'm under any obligation to respond your question auror," he started in a mocking tone, "but I am here to have Miss Alina here" he continued with a polite nod to the girl watching with wide eyes their conversation, "answer some questions related to the incident she was involved in ".

"Miss Alina?", auror Potter asked narrowing his eyes while subtly glancing at the girl on the bed. "Is that her name? How do you know it? I was told her identity was unknown since she had amnesia."

"Oh, so the little aurors aren't able to find someones identity without being informed directly of it by the person whose identity they were trying to find in the first place, huh? My, whatever will you do if you are lied to?", he wondered in a concern filled voice as he silently watched auror Black becoming red in the face though he seemed to try badly to hold in his tongue for one reason or another. Maybe he was one of those creeped out by his uniform, who knows. And who cared for that matter.

"Well, us the Unspeakables aren't as lenient as you aurors seem to be and have already discovered pretty much everything concerning the incident. A report containing what we found out had been sent to your department...don't tell me you haven't checked your mail this morning?" he asked hitting, if one were to judge by the pink hue coloring auror's Potter cheeks, the proverbial nail on the head.

Giving Rookwood a dark look, Potter straightened himself up before turning towards Alina.

"I am afraid Miss Alina that I have to take my leave for now but make no mistake- this conversation is far from over," he said hazel eyes locking green orbs in a battle of wills before turning away abruptly. "Let's go, Sirius," he said as he gave a obligatory nod in farewell to the Unspeakable before exiting the room, Black hot on his heels shouting an "Farewell, my fair lady" over his shoulder to Alina as he tried to keep up with his moody friend.

Not that he couldn't understand his friend's frustration at being out done by the Unspeakables. Creepy buggers always interfering in the auror's affairs, he thought with a shudder as he followed his partner out, inwardly wallowing that he couldn't spend more time with his crush, never once noticing the beetle stuck on his robe.

Left alone with Alina, Rookwood finally took the time to asses the girl.

Long, sleek black hair flowed in waves adorning a delicate, oval face and glowing, porcelain-like skin. She had eyes of a deep, stunning emerald-green that were framed by long lashes and seemed to hold knowledge and pain beyond the girl's years as they also watched him curiously and apprehensively, maybe.

Not surprising considering the loss of her memories and the fact that he hadn't even introduced himself yet.

As he studied her face with its perfectly shaped eyebrows, a straight nose and full lips the only think he could word he could think of to describe what he seeing right then was beautiful. The girl was truly, honest to God beautiful, alike a fallen angel left on Earth to bless lowly mortals with its grace and beauty. So delicate, so fragile, so utterly fierce and strong.

Rookwood couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity he got while studying the girl's features.

"So, my name is Alina?" the girl asked and Rookwood couldn't help but notice that, though it had a bell-like quality, the voice was clear and strong with no noticeable accent coloring it and sounding more than pleasant to the ears because of it. How... peculiar.

"We believe so," he answered as he neared the girl's bed slowly, not wanting to scare her since he knew the Unspeakable attire he was wearing, which was formed by black robes, black boots, black gloves and, indeed you guessed, a black mask, unsettled even a normal person. An amnesiac one, still trying to get used to the world around her was bound to be even more affected by his somewhat...disturbing appearance.

"Actually," he continued, "that is why I am here today. You see, I am an Unspeakable and I work in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry. The incident you were involved in piqued my Department's interest so, beside the aurors, there are also some Unspeakables in charge of investigating this case. As it is, from what we found so far, we believe you to be Alina Tudose, a sixteen old witch from Romania that is to be apprenticed to the Potion Mistress Petrova after your guardian Ileana Sandu died. Sadly, we were unable to locate madam Petrova until now to confirm at least a part of this story, everything I told you being based on the declaration of several people from your birth country," Rookwood said slowly, letting the girl digest the information he delivered to her.

"The reason why I'm here is to do a blood magical test, a heredity one, which will allow us to confirm your identity, with your permission that is," Rookwood said, ending his speech as he waited for the girl's answer.

"Erm...this isn't dangerous right? And it wouldn't cause me to me in pain, I hope,'." the girl said after a few seconds trying, from what Rookwood could see, to pass her unease and uncertainty as fear of the possibility of being in pain. How endearing. She was for sure Slytherin material – that lot never liked having their true weaknes exposed and always tried to mask it by diverting attention from it with something else with a lesser chance of causing damage.

"No, miss," Rookwood answered somewhat bemused, "it isn't dangerous though it will probably sting a little."

"Sting?"

"Yes. You see the heredity test consist in writing your name on a special piece a paper made by the Gringotts goblin's using a blood quill. A Blood Quill is a writing instrument enchanted to use the writer's blood for ink you see so writing with a Blood Quill causes a stinging sensation in the place from where the Quill draws the blood that it uses as ink. Prolonged use of the Quill do cause the writer to scar but no harm will come from what I will have you do," Rookwood said, noticing the girl wince at the word 'scar'.

He couldn't blame her, not even he liked those nasty blood quills and was glad that their use – for other people not working for the Ministry and even then only for a chosen few- was prohibited by law considering that in the past the objects were even used as a mean of torture.

"Well, if you say it is no danger I guess I will do it. I am very eager to know at least _something_ of the person I was before my loss of memory", Alina answered and without further ado the Unspeakable got a surprisingly normal looking quill and a piece of parchment out of his robe pocket and handed them to the nervous if eager girl who took no time in writing the name the Unspeakable said it was hers, 'Alina Tudose' on the paper, wincing slightly at the pain caused by the use of a blood quill.

Once she was done she handed the quill and the parchment back to the Unspeakable and proceeded to wait anxiously for said Unspeakable, who was now studying the parchment attentively, to tell her the test results.

"So...what does it say? Am I or am I not Alina Tudose," asked Alina after a few seconds in which the Unspeakable just...stared at the parchment in his hands.

"...You are. I am afraid though, Miss Tudose, that you will have to wait for another time to learn more about your past since it seems it is time for me to go. I will contact you soon," the Uspeakable said and without giving the girl a chance to retort walked out of the room in a hurry.

As he stalked through the halls, Rookwood mind was in a frenzy. If what was written on the parchment was true then...no, he couldn't get ahead of himself. Yet. He will have to investigate this matter through fully before he attempted to present his findings to his lord. Very through fully indeed since he was sure that if he told about his findings only to later be discovered that it was a mistake the punishment he will get wouldn't be easy to handle at all. Quite the opposite in fact. He will be lucky to get away with his life considering his Lord's temper.

But still, it was worth the risk since if it was true he was sure to become one of his Lord's most trusted and a beneficiary of all the advantages such a rank entailed. Yes, he could actually see it...

As he lost himself in dreams of greatness Rookwood wasn't aware that in a hospital room, laying comfortably on the bed, a beautiful young women wore a quite satisfied smirk.

Perfect.

…_**From the ashes of time... **_

The girl formerly known as Hermione Granger, presently thought of as Alina Tudose and soon to be Alina Tudor was enjoying a delicious hot cup of coffee which was which was pleasantly tickling her senses as she leisurely walked through Diagon Alley.

Yesterday had been a fruitful day for her as she accomplished many things among which the most important were the successful pass off of her amnesia as being real to the officials sent by the Ministry, the identification and acceptance of her as Alina Tudose by said Ministry officials and, the most important of them all, the result of the heredity test which will surely set the wheels of fate in motion.

She couldn't help a smile as she thought of the day.

James and Sirius have been so cute trying to question her though they had many things to learn before they become the legendary aurors Moody often talked about in the future with pride. They were rookies still and that was painfully obvious as Sirius let himself side-tracked way too easily – though his crush/puppy love of her _was_ endearing, while James was too...Griffindor, too blunt in his approach though he seemed to posses the same sharp instincts of his son. Or was it the opposite? Harry possessed the sharp instincts of his father?

Merlin, time travel was confusing.

And by God, they were so innocent still, so untainted by the evil of the world, still believing that good will be the one to prevail in the end. She dearly wished she could keep it that way but she knew that sooner or later they will have to face the horrors the world had to offer. At the very least she wanted to keep them alive but, if it would help achieving her goal, she knew she wouldn't hesitate in sacrificing them for the Greater Good as Dumbledore would put it.

There were too much things at stake for her to let personal emotions influence her actions.

And speaking of, Dumbledore was going to be either a powerful ally or a tricky enemy, but either way he was dangerous no matter what place he chooses to play on the chessboard. He will be one of the toughest opponents she will have to face in this particular game, of that she was certain of, and she was aware she had to be extra careful while dealing with this particular mastermind manipulator. For all his good intentions, he could ruin everything. Hopefully, she won't have to worry about him for a long, long time.

She shook her head as she tried to clear her head.

This day was one for relaxation, she swore to herself that when she practically begged Molly to let her out of the hospital for at least a couple of hours to enjoy what England had to offer – and by Merlin, she was ever so surprised to find Molly worked as a mediwitch once upon a time though the job certainly suited the motherly women. Redundantly, the women agreed though Alina was forced to swear she was just going to take a _short_ walk around, - "not too far off!"- and that she won't try to enter Knockturn Alley by any change – "it's a most dangerous place, sweetie, you could get hurt!".

She even gave her some pocked money - "buy yourself something nice, dear, you don't need to repay me"- and Alina reckoned that, without the economic burden brought by the living expenses for the many members the family will come to have in the future, the Weasley weren't all that bad off.

Alina thought about many things while walking. About her past, about her mission, about Voldemort and about the burden she carried on her shoulders. It seemed almost too much for one to bear alone, and she knew it wouldn't be easy at all. Rather it will be more hard and difficult than she could even imagine at this point in time and she knew she would have to sacrifice many things in order to make the future better.

Still, as she walked among the still happy faces of excited, busy or hurried witches and wizards surrounding her with eyes not shadowed by despair, as she took in wonder the undamaged buildings around her and the shrill aliveness of the place she found herself in she remembered why she was doing this. Why was she fighting for in the first place and what she was trying to keep from disappearing.

This wonderful, bright and warm world unaffected by the war that was only in its beginning phases.

But, first things first, she had to become familiar with the state things were in at the moment. And, though often misleading, "Daily Prophet" was, sadly, the best source of information she could find. With that thought in mind she wasted no time in going to the nearest newspaper stand she could find and buying the edition released that morning.

Idly sipping her coffee, she browsed through the newspaper not paying much attention as she planned to study it better once she returned to the hospital only to choke on her sip once she reached page three and read the title of a certain article.

_** WITCH ASSAULTED BY MUGGLES!**_

_ Are we going to stand for it?_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_Several days ago a powerful magical wave was felt in England and not only when a muggle building collapsed from the build up of magical power, that was concentrated in one point, causing it to implode. After many investigations made by the Unspeakables and the Aurors it was reached the conclusion that the source of the wave of magic was a young girl that was found unconscious under the building remains being taken to St. Mungo to receive treatment. _

_Sadly, it seemed that the girl was worse for the wear than initially thought suffering not only of depletion of the magical core but also having been shot with a muggle weapon in the arm. Not only that but upon waking up the poor girl was discovered to have amnesia, the trauma caused by the incident she had been in causing her mind to forget rather than try to deal with whatever happened. We can only imagine the horrors this brave young witch had been through though the healer as assure us that, beside the loss of memory, the young witch will suffer no other long lasting damage._

_Luckily enough, the Unspeakables were able to find out the girl's identity who was confirmed as being Alina Tudose, a sixteen year old witch from Romania and a potion prodigy who is to become the apprentice of the well known Potion Mistress Petrova. From the clues left behind at the scene of the incident and the testimonies taken from various witnesses Alina was about to start her journey to England after her guardian's death when she was assaulted by muggles._

_That is right, dear readers, it seems that the pain and suffering of Alina was caused by muggles! _

_It seems that as she was taking a walk, the beautiful witch was assaulted by muggles with less than honorable intentions in mind. Having had left her wand at the inn she was staying at the young girl found herself defenseless in front of her assaulters and, in her desperation, tried to apparate to the first place that came to mind. That happened to be England._

_The magical pulse we all felt was, more or less, all the magic power Alina used in her successful attempt of an International Apparition which could have very well ended in her death and not only in the drainage of her magical resources. _

_All that I have been written here my dear reader has been found by the Unspeakable team whose efforts allowed us to find the truth. One might wonder what have been the Aurors up if the Unspeakable were the one to do all the work thus far and the answer is not one we might expect. It seems that the team formed by Auror Black and Auror Potter that was charged with investigating the incident rather than doing their job thought it will be much better to interrogate and harass the the amnesiac witch with question she didn't had the answer to. They even threatened to use Veritaserum on the poor girl despite the dangers the potion holds but luckily they hadn't attempted anything yet though I can't say much of the future. _

_As it is this reporter feels like the level performance of the auror dropped significantly compared with how it was in the past._

_That aside though, dear readers, this reporter couldn't help but wonder if, though most of us adult wizards are able to defend ourselves from muggles, could the same be said for our young?_

_And are we prepared to take the risk, either way?_

_I dread what will happen if any of them were in Miss Alina's situation whom this reporter wishes a speedy recovery. _

_May she never face something like this again!_

_'Amnesia -truth and fiction' – see page 7_

_'Muggles- a real treat?' - see page 9_

Well, Alina thought drily, Rita always had a way with words. She didn't know how the article will affect her mission but she knew Voldemort at least will use it to antagonize the muggles, and by connection the muggleborns, further into the eyes of wizards and witches everywhere. But at least it will give her a valid reason to fake a believable hate for muggles since, supposedly, she thought herself as a muggleborn.

Idly, she hoped James and Sirius didn't get in trouble too much thanks to Skeeter article but she wouldn't bet on it. If anything, she was sure Moody will chew them off, paranoid bugger that he was, she thought fondly of the one who helped her, Harry and the others train properly.

Still, she couldn't help but be satisfied with how things turned up so far. With this, her cover up was pretty much taken care of and she barely had to do anything. Well, beside all the traveling she did while she was supposedly unconscious that is. One wouldn't believe how easy it was to modify the memories of some Romanian muggles here, to change the pictures of Alina from the orphanage there, all that without anybody noticing that the supposedly unconscious patient was away from hospital. Or at least, how easy it was after one manage to steal a time-turner from the Department of Mysteries.

She couldn't help a snort at that. Really, Alina couldn't say that she still liked Dumbledore as she once did after finding what sort of person the headmaster really was, but he still had her respect. One who could stop this pack of overgrown monkeys that called themselves wizards from being taken over by Voldemort for so long was at least worthy of that. It was pathetic how easy one could infiltrate the Ministry and compared with Gringotts and Hogwarts the place was a joke. And considering her past adventures with Harry and Ron in both placeS, it really made one pity Voldemort. The man had to have to lousiest luck ever encountered to lose so many times while against _these_ kind of defences.

As she continued to walk down the street, browsing the newspaper while inwardly cursing the incompetency of wizards everywhere – how could they ever win against Voldemort if they continued like this!-, she never noticed the door of a shop opening and a young man walking out of it. As it was, it was no wonder when she stumbled on him, throwing both him and herself on the ground in the process, hot coffee spilling on them both. Great, there goes her heavenly coffee she angrily thought as she raised her head to see who was the one that she stumbled on.

Annoyed emerald eyes clashed with guarded silver orbs and, for a moment, time seemed to stop.

_**...TBC...**_

* * *

*Where am i?...Who are you? Where's my wand?**  
**

**AN/**Dear readers,

I'm very sorry for making you wait an eternity, literally, for a new update. I received the reviews ( and read them all, of course) as well as the dozens of lovely PMs you sent me and I was very touched by how much you all like this story still after all this time. Sadly, I was (and still am) very busy with real life and had to take a break from writing to keep up with the events happening in my life. However, I didn't forget about you all or this story despite my, frustrating for some I bet, silence and lack of replies.

As it is I'm starting to write again though,I have to warn you now, the updates will be painfully slow.

On another point, I received lots of requests from people willing to be my beta. I'm not against the idea, I'm aware I need one but, in the past, it didn't work that well for me as most quit mid-way. If people still want to be my beta after reading the requirments that fallow then they are free to let me know that through a review or PM. Requirements of my perfect beta-reader:

1. Exceptionally well-versed with the english language- as most of my mistakes have to do with typos, spelling and grammar this is a MUST!

2. A perfectionistic nature or close to having one - considering each one of my chapters are very detailed AND pretty big in lenght the person working to improve them will have be so to do a very throughout job.

3. Motivated - don't start if you don't plan on finishing.

4. Willing to start beta-ing from the last written chapter to the first - as the first chapters aren't in as much of a need for a beta as the last ones- and willing to, when I finish a new chapter, prioritize that one over the others.

of working on his/her own when not able to contact me for whatever reason- since I will contact them eventually and, when I do, it will be nice if they had finished some work in the meantime.  
6. Not afraid to criticize me or share his/hers ideas with me in the name of improvement - really, I'm tough. I can take it.

Other than that I hope you like the chapter well enough considering it's been awhile since I wrote anything and my skills may have gotten a bit rusty.I apologize if that's the case and I promise to try and improve.

Hope you'll find in yourself the patience to deal with little old me for while farther and that not many of you would hold a grudge over my extremely long absence.**  
**

Sincerely,

Sara Blake**  
**


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